Don’t laugh at Ukip – it’s a serious force

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The fruitcakes may provide light relief, but the party represents a powerful voice that feels ignored in Britain

It’s easy to sneer at Ukip. David Cameron called them “fruitcakes, loonies and
closet racists”, Michael Howard dismissed them as “gadflies and cranks”.
Nigel Farage’s barmy army looks like a one-man-pint-in-hand-band, combining
golf club bonhomie with shock-jock prejudice — reactionary, swivel-eyed, out
of touch.

Although the country is struggling at the edge of recession, Ukip has no
economic policy and its leader has disowned his entire 2010 manifesto. Of
the party’s 21 MEPs elected since 1999, almost half have defected, resigned,
been suspended or gone to jail. The Ukip headquarters has been described as
“Carry On Politics” — ill-disciplined and unprofessional. Even